I knit (one row) with the Yarn Harlot!

I've finally got a few minutes to write about our whirlwind trip to Atlanta to see the Yarn Harlot on Wednesday! My mom came along and we took Baby Brother with us, since he's happiest getting his breastmilk directly from the source. Between a late start and a couple of nursing stops, we didn't get there in time to visit the yarn shop before the event, but we were in line to get into the theater about 15 minutes early. Then a woman behind us asked the staff if we could jump the line since the baby was getting hungry, and they agreed. Everyone was so nice, and Baby Brother seemed to enjoy swaying in his front pack all through Stephanie's talk. She even put our picture in her blog entry!

Here we are before the Harlot started speaking:

I managed to knit one whole row of The Sweater That Will Not End while swaying back and forth with the baby. So I can truthfully say, as our event T-shirts proclaim, that I knit with the Yarn Harlot. The hat he's wearing is the Rainbow Marley from Itty Bitty Hats, done in Knit Picks Shine Worsted, as yet lacking its marley topper. I loved making the hat and finished it months ago, but didn't enjoy fiddling with the topper. It requires casting on 18 stitches, then binding off 17, casting on 17, and repeating this eight times. Essentially, it's all first row, and so not much fun.

My mom is really a quilter, but she gets the urge to knit for new grandchildren, and she's been working on a sweater for the little man. She brought it along on straight needles, and it wasn't suited for knitting in the close quarters of the Hilan Theater. Lucky for me, I had the marley-topper-in-progress along, so she finished making the pieces for the hat. Now I just have to attach them. Thanks mom!

This is the three of us during the raffle:

It was awesome to finally hear Stephanie in person. I wanted to go to Nashville for her visit there last year, but didn't make it. She is just as funny and insightful in person as she is in writing.

What was even better, though, is the new connection the trip forged between my mom and me. She really enjoyed the talk as well, and has been reading At Knit's End since we got home. She said that nearly all the stories are just as true if you substitute "quilting" for "knitting."

We've been knitting together for the past couple of days and discussing knitting, quilting and the power of craft. Some of her closest friends are in the quilt club she's participated in for over 20 years, and anyone reading this blog probably counts knitters among their best friends. Stephanie talked about the stereotypes of knitters as lonely old ladies and how the truth is very different. Knitting, quilting, and other crafts bring all kinds of people together. I guess that's why I call myself a distracted knitter instead of a person who sometimes knits -- I love the community that knitting brings together.

And speaking of that community, a big "thank you" to the staff at Knitch and all the very nice knitters who let us go to the front of the line, both to get into the theater and at the booksigning. Thanks, Stephanie, for making your signature "fish face" at a very tired baby, making him smile in spite of himself. Thanks for putting us on your blog, too! Finally, thanks to the nice woman at Knitch who recommended the Osteria restaurant down the street. We all had a lovely meal, and the baby slept all the way home. What a great event.

P.S. I almost forgot -- I got my Ravelry invite in the morning before we left for the Harlot. I have logged in but done nothing else yet; my username is distractedknit.